Deputies urge residents in emergencies to utilize the sheriff’s ‘texting 911’ feature after a statewide issue caused 911 and administrative phone lines to be down overnight, officials said. It was unclear when the lines were expected to be back up.
The phone lines malfunctioned about 1:30 a.m. Friday, said Sgt. Kevin Jaworski, a spokesperson with the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s officials were working to quickly resolve the matter and activate the agency’s backup system through the Emergency Operations Center.
It was not immediately known if the phone line malfunction was connected to reports of a global outage caused by an update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The outage disabled devices using Microsoft around the world, causing airlines to ground flights, 911 outages across several states and more internet technology issues, according to media reports.
The sheriff’s office implemented its ‘texting 911’ feature a few years ago, Jaworski said.
Jaworski said the sheriff’s dispatch center handles calls for fire rescue and emergency medical services throughout the county. The center also takes calls for Fellsmere and Indian River Shores.
The police departments in Vero Beach and Sebastian have their own dispatchers, Jaworski said. Officials with those agencies were not immediately available for comment.
This story will be updated.
